Chemical/Vapor odor in basement after mold remediation

Hi. LONG POST! PLEASE HELP!! I just had some mold remediation done by a national professional company. My basment is unfinished. The strong mold odor and subsequent testing showed high aspergillis, which was all I smelled before the mold remediaiton. The company HEPA vaccummed everything (contents, walls , floor, ceiling,etc)and put the contents in plastic garbage bags, sealed tightly with a knot and duct tape. They put and EPA registered water based sanitizer on surfaces and as well put a sealant on the wall where they found the mold source. They then covered the whole wall in vapor barrier and let air cleaners runf or 2 days until the final testing showed major mold reduction and cleared. Since then , I have had a strong chemical/vapor odor. Airing out the basement doesn't work and the outside humidity seems to make it worse. The smell has been so strong at times, my eyes water. It hasn't rained, so there has not been any real additional moisture anywhere. The products they used are DRY and behind the vapor barrier, the mild smell of the sealant is not the same as what is bothering me. They had put duct tape over the one basement drain, so no odor could be getting in that way, could it????????? The dehumidifier has been running and is keeping the basement at 50% humidity. The walls don't smell, nor do the things that they put their products on. I have not done any remodeling or had any plumbing work done. Yesterday, after having all the windows open to try to air it out,which wasn't working so we closed the windows, and after 8 hours the smell was completely gone! But this morning, it smelled again!!!! And, I had done nothing different! I am going crazy, and as I am chemically sensitive and have asthma, it is worse. Originally, I had thought because of that, I was the only one smelling this, but I have since had other workers down there and they smelled it too, and also had some eye burning...so I know I am not crazy!!!!!! I do not have a sump pump..just a sewer system.No problems in the neighborhood... SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!!! I cannot run the furnace as the smell gets pulled up from the basement and we are freezing!!!!!!!! Thanks!!

I would start by calling the company that did the mold treatment to find out what they applied that you are now smelling, how toxic it is, how long the smell should persist, and if there is anything you can do about it. They ought to be able to help; if it were me I would absolutely demand it.

Your post is from a few years ago..Did you resolve it? I currently have this problem..The Mold remediation company used a Fosters Mold inhibiting encapsulate which is primarily made of Vinyl acetate. It has been almost 4 months and the chemical smell of this paint is not diminishing....I don't know what to do. I too am lowering the furnace to minimize the fumes and I am freezing. HELP!!!!

I used Foster's primer and paint once and would never use it again. I used it on new construction and had to perform high concentration ozone saturation treatments to remove the odor. The treatments took place over a few weeks. Prior to use for a client, I had tested the Foster products (40/80 and 40/50)with excellent results. However the area tested was small and the odor did not leach to overwhelming levels. But once used in a closed basement, the odor was nauseating. I never used it again on a job, however I would use it in applications where there was generous airflow.